


Forget Me Not

by Quiet_as_Snow



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Platonic Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-30
Updated: 2014-11-30
Packaged: 2018-02-27 14:03:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2695739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quiet_as_Snow/pseuds/Quiet_as_Snow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Percy decides it's about time to have a chat with Nico.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Forget Me Not

It was only a matter of time, really.

Percy had never been able to handle guilt well. It was one of the many qualities that Nico had originally found so charming about the boy; if he felt he had wronged someone, Percy would do his damnedest to make it right again.

Still, Nico hadn’t exactly been eager to have this discussion. Ever since he had made his confession on the hillside, any and all interactions with the sea prince had been brief and mortifyingly awkward. Breakfast at the dining pavilion went the same every morning; Percy would catch sight of the dark-haired boy, turn pink, and quickly avert his eyes to something more interesting, like the gum on his shoe. 

And that was fine by Nico. If Percy needed time to feel comfortable around him again, Nico couldn’t blame him. Unwanted love confessions tended to have that effect on people, after all. In fact, the son of Hades probably preferred it that way. All of the confidence he had managed to muster up had seemed to dissipate completely. Neither boy could stand in the other’s company for too long without awkwardly excusing themselves and practically running in the opposite direction. 

It was silly, Nico knew, but necessary. He had so many pent up feelings for Percy for so long, he was now unsure how to act around him. What Nico had told Percy was the truth; he no longer felt that way about him. That didn’t mean he was ready to openly have a conversation about it to his face.

Which brought him to his current predicament.

Percy’s original reaction to avoid Nico had slowly transformed into something else. Occasionally, Nico would catch him staring at him from across the room, his eyebrows furrowing together in contemplation. The look on his face was a mixture between apprehension and quiet curiosity, as if Percy was fighting the urge to walk over and say something.

Nico always fled before he could.

His luck was bound to run out, he knew, but he still wasn’t ready for it when it did.

Percy found him in the stables of Camp Half-Blood. The attack on camp had left wreckage in every direction. Being a member of the team that defeated Gaea, Nico seemed to now hold a higher spot in the camp’s eyes. The unfortunate downside—he was one of the first people enlisted for cleanup. Surprisingly, Nico hadn’t minded much. The fact that he now had peers, ones that ran to him for help… Well. The thought was foreign to him, but also flattering. The pegasi were the current problem; the stables were almost completely destroyed, leaving them spooked and free to run rampant. Frank and Hazel made a special trip from Camp Jupiter to help out. Hazel, because of her particular skill with horses, and Frank, because he tended not to leave Hazel’s side. There was also the added bonus of him being able to turn into said animal.

He and Frank were just finishing up in the newly constructed stables when Nico heard a familiar voice ring out behind them.

“Hey, Percy,” Frank waved him over. “What’s up?”

“Hey, Frank,” Percy gave a nervous smile. “I’m actually here for Nico.” Green eyes flicked over to the younger boy, his shy grin quickly turning into a look of apprehension. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

Ah, Hades.

“… Sure,” Nico shot a glance towards Frank that probably looked something like Please gods save me. Frank looked at Nico, at Percy, then back at Nico.

“I… think I heard Hazel calling me,” Frank said. At least he had the decency to look guilty. “I’ll see you guys later!”

Frank ran.

The two remaining boys stood in momentary silence, sizing the other up as if preparing for some sort of battle. It was the first time they had both been in the same room without awkwardly avoiding each other.

“So,” Nico drawled the word out slowly, internally cursing Frank for abandoning him. “What was it you needed?”

The son of the sea ran a hand through his hair, looking as if he was trying to find the right words.

“I need to talk to you,” he started. “About that thing. That you said. You know, the other day.” Percy winced and shook his head slightly, probably at how badly he had butchered that sentence.

“Oh,” Nico stalled. “Uh…”

Nico’s mouth opened in an attempt to force out some sort of believable lie that could get him out of this mess—his eyes darting around the room in search of an opportune exit. When they found none, Nico turned back to Percy, his mouth still half-open for the excuse that both boys knew would never come.

Nico sighed in defeat.

“Do we have to have this conversation?” He asked in a dull voice, dropping any attempt at pretense.

Percy gave him a sympathetic smile that looked more like a grimace. “I think we should.”

Nico looked up at him miserably, and then sighed again.

“Alright.”

0o0o0o0

The two demigods silently made their way down the dirt path that led towards the lake. Neither had agreed on a destination; the walk was meant mostly to calm nerves and allow for time to think. That they had ended up there was likely due to Percy’s inclination to seek solace in bodies of water during times of need. They shuffled to a log bench that was rested along the edge of the mere and sat in silence. Nico started twisting his skull ring, wishing Percy would just get whatever he wanted to say out and over with. 

“Right, so,” Percy started with a deep breath, “I wanted to apologize.”

Nico cringed. He had guessed where this was headed, but the son of Hades had no intentions of sitting through an awkward rejection from the boy he crushed on since he was ten. That was the point of his confession in the first place; Nico had finally accepted that he would never have a future with Percy. Hearing him tell Nico what he always knew—that he didn’t want him—would only stir up those feelings of self-contempt.

“That isn’t necessary,” he said hastily. “I always knew how you felt, that you’d never—“

“Not about that,” Percy said, blushing slightly, “although I am sorry about that, too.”

Nico blinked. “Oh… okay.” Apparently he didn’t know where this was headed. “Then what…?”

Percy’s gaze sank to his feet, his face filling with guilt. “I haven’t been a good friend to you, Nico. I haven’t really been much of a friend at all, to be honest.”

He paused, and Nico waited for him to continue.

“We don’t have the easiest history, do we?” he continued. “Too many betrayals and broken promises. I…. I’ve tried my best to put that all behind us, to forget they happened.” Percy finally brought his gaze to Nico’s, eyes full of regret. “But that’s not what you needed, was it?”

Nico blinked, surprised by the sincerity behind his words. The infamous “kelp head” was never one for deep thought, after all. “I don’t—“

“Not giving people a second thought,” Percy carried on, “can be dangerous, right?”

The younger boy’s throat closed up, recognizing his own words. When he’d said them, he hadn’t thought Percy would ever understand the meaning behind them. The sea prince tended not to give much thought to hidden messages—unless the person saying them was important to him. Nico wondered at the implication of that.

“You never forgot me,” Percy whispered. “But I can’t say the same to you. And I’m so sorry for that.”

The two boys sat quietly for a long time. It was a cold day for September, and the sun was beginning to sink. Distant chatter reached the boys from across the fields—groups of friends making their way to the pavilion for dinner—but neither could be moved, choosing instead to sit together and look out over the lake.

“Do you hate me?” Percy asked, breaking the lengthy silence. “I wouldn’t blame you if you did.”

Nico’s brows furrowed. At a time—at several points in time, in fact—he would have likely said yes. Too many bad memories, too many shattering emotions, just at the thought of the sea prince’s name. Nico had no choice but to hate him, because the alternative was hating himself. But he knew better now.

He shook his head. “I don’t hate you, Percy,” he said with finality. He was surprised by how much he meant it. “I… I’m still a little bitter. But that’s a Hades thing. I’ll get over it.”

Percy looked at him for a moment, eyes shining and hopeful.

“Can we… can we start over?”

Again, Nico shook his head. “We can’t.” At that, Percy winced, but his surprise gave way to a sad acceptance. 

Nico knew a thing or two about death. Being a child of Hades, it was practically inherent. And in turn, he had come to learn a few things about life as well. At the end of the road, life is what a person’s fate is determined by—a massive compilation of choices, mistakes, decisions, actions. You can’t erase a misdeed, but you can alleviate it. Make new choices, wiser decisions, be better, and tip the scale in the other direction.

“Starting over implies forgetting all the stupid shit we’ve done to each other. And we can’t do that.” Percy looked over at Nico again, and found the other boy’s arm outstretched towards him. “But we can promise to move forward, and make better memories.”

Percy stared at his hand then, his vision clouding by the tears welling in his eyes. After a moment, he clasped Nico’s hand as hard as he could. “It’s a deal, then.” Percy was grinning from ear to ear now. Nico couldn’t help but match it. 

As the two friends made their way up to the dining pavilion, Nico found himself filling with an emotion he hadn’t felt in a very long time, one he had grown accustomed to living without—overwhelming sense of peace. 

“Hey, Nico?”

“Yeah?”

Percy’s eyes narrowed. “What did you mean, I’m not your type?”

Nico rolled his eyes, smiled, and kept walking.


End file.
